Decreasing weight by 18 percent, increasing stiffness by 5 percent and reducing the entire design cycle by 40 percent

About the customer

Located in Tortoreto, Italy, Faraone manufactures high-end lightweight structures and glass systems, offering half a century of experience and innovation in the world of transparent architecture. Specialized in developing and manufacturing glass staircases, facades or canopies, Faraone has a proven track record of realizing tailored architecture. As Italy’s market leader for glass balustrades, Faraone was one of the first companies in Italy to adopt the pointfixed glass system, which allows architectural glass to be drilled and directly fixed on its bearing structure using mechanical connections and support structures.

Their challenge

To develop a new model of Faraone’s best-known product, NINFA, the engineering team had to start from zero. NINFA is an aluminum profile with a U-shaped channel that clamps on the structural glass panel. The system is fully adjustable for lateral installation and allows for a frameless glass balustrade that offers a superior view of the panorama.

The main challenge was to reduce the weight of the NINFA model, NINFA125, using topology optimization while simultaneously ensuring the necessary safety measures by optimizing the load distribution. NINFA125 model can hold a glass thickness of 17.52 millimeters (mm) and 21.52 mm. NINFA125 measures 85 mm by 125 mm. To solve the engineering challenges in the design of these architectural components, which must meet several safety requirements and standards, Faraone used the most advanced simulation technologies.

Left: First validation analysis; Subsequent to the optimization, NINFA125 V1 was validated using Siemens Simcenter Simsolid; Right: Third validation analysis; The redesigned final version of NINFA125 profile was again validated using Simcenter Simsolid, providing fast and accurate results.

Our solution

For NINFA125, the team set up an integrated workflow starting with concept design and optimization in Simcenter™ Inspire™ software. Simcenter is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services. The engineers first defined the available design space with Simcenter Inspire by creating a simple U-section. This enabled them to run a topology optimization on the shape of the aluminum profile, with emphasis on weight reduction and stiffness improvement. Constraints included free spaces for the glass panel and glass fasteners, as well as for floor mounting.

With these optimization results, Simcenter Simsolid™ software was employed for fast and accurate validation in a second step. The geometry and refinement of the profile were analyzed, and the results of the initial analysis were used as input for a stress analysis of the optimized profile.

After implementing and reanalyzing the results, the team found the optimal stress distribution while preserving the integrity of the glass panel. Faraone was then able to transfer the 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model directly into Simcenter Simsolid without having to simplify the geometry for the subsequent nonlinear analysis.

The deflection analysis of the profile resulted in a maximum displacement of 3.2 mm under the serviceability loading, which corresponded to the allowable displacement of 3.5 mm. Lastly, the final prototype was converted into high-fidelity finite element method (FEM) models for a final validation analysis regarding stress, displacement, reaction forces and buckling.

Optimization results, interpretation of the results and validation analysis.

Results

Thanks to an integrated workflow that includes topology optimization and nonlinear simulation, NINFA125 is now up to 18 percent lighter than previous aluminum profiles with an increased stiffness of 5 percent. In addition, using Simcenter Simsolid enabled Faraone to reduce the time needed for studying and redefining the design of complex glass structures to less than 30 minutes.

“The adoption of Simcenter Inspire and Simcenter Simsolid in our workflow has been transformational,” says Gabriele Romagnoli, head of structural engineering at Faraone. “We could reduce the entire design cycle by 40 percent and realize three validation analyses in less than 90 minutes, allowing us to design lighter and safer support structures. Thanks to Siemens solutions, we could quickly find the optimal design layout for our NINFA models with Simcenter Inspire and then verify the rationalized geometry with Simcenter Simsolid. In addition, we can leverage Simcenter Simsolid for the nonlinear analyses for our complex structural assembly of more than 1,000 parts.”